Notes: I originally had a silly little scene planned where the Doctor, Jack and Hope passed the time away by playing Mousetrap. Unfortunately I can’t find an appropriate place for it any more, but it was an idea I really liked. :)

Rose was in her room, tying up her shoelaces and zipping up her jacket, as she prepared to leave with the Doctor on another excursion - perhaps the last one ever. This time, though, there wasn’t just fear and excitement in her heart; there was horror. What if she didn’t come back? Would Hope be all right without her? The Doctor had told her ‘You don’t have to do this,’, and yet she had replied insistently, ‘Yes I do.’ Despite her uncertainty and dread, there was no other answer.

The Doctor had perceived her pain as she had said those words, though, and knew as well as she did that her feelings on the matter were ambiguous. However, he hadn’t tried to dissuade her, for he knew, and respected, that she was quite capable of making up her own mind.

The Doctor himself was hovering in Rose’s bedroom doorway right now, waiting for her. He watched her blow her hair out her eyes, get to her feet, and fidget with her jacket a little before she finally turned in his direction and looked across the room at him. He stared right back, his face unreadable.

Rose glanced away again. “This is so weird…” she confessed, letting her eyes linger on Hope’s bed. “I always hoped, but never thought I’d be doing this again.” She allowed herself a smile before reconnecting her eyes with the Doctor’s. “Another adventure,” she added.

The Doctor nodded mutely, holding her gaze.

Rose sought for something to fiddle with as the atmosphere around her began to feel increasingly uneasy. Spotting her hairbrush on the bedside unit, she reached for it and began thrusting it through her hair. “So tell me,” she continued as a thought suddenly crossed her mind. “How does Hope know? About the Daleks. She seemed to know their name as if someone had told her about them years ago...”

“So you didn’t tell her about them?”

Rose shook her head. “No, why would I?”

The Doctor’s brow went up in a way that told Rose he was rather put out by this; “Well, I just presumed you would‘ve,” he said.

‘Did you even tell her about me?’ was the unsaid question which hung in the air afterwards, and Rose could read the Doctor’s vexation in the mere way he looked at her, letting the silence speak for him. The worse thing was that Rose couldn’t deny she had neglected to tell Hope anything about him, at least not until very recently, and this knowledge filled her with guilt.

“It’s not so easy, you know,” she said, wondering whether she was saying it for his benefit, or for hers. “You can’t tell a child these stories and expect them to just live with them. I mean, what happens when they go to school, and tell their friends that there are ‘real’ monsters out there, and that their daddy is--”

“One of them?”

She looked at him with a deep, puzzled frown, unsure whether he was joking or being deadly serious. He had used that indistinguishable tone of voice which could have meant either thing. “No…” she murmured cagily. “But for Hope to go and tell everyone her dad’s an alien, or some kind of super hero--”

“I’m no hero.”

Rose shook her head, deciding to ignore that comment. “Look, just answer the question.”

“What, Hope’s knowing about the Daleks?” He shrugged. “Well, I don’t know. Her potential is unmapped in all areas of intelligence and ability. She’s a hybrid of both our races, so who knows what whims nature has taken with her?”

This seemed true enough so Rose didn’t try to delve any deeper into the mystery. And to bring her quickly back down to earth, as soon as she put down her brush, her mother intruded on the moment and walked into her room with Hope in tow.

“So,” Jackie asked, weaving around the Doctor as if he were a piece of furniture, and worthy of as much attention as such, “have you decided on a date yet?”

Rose’s face was blank and she looked to the Doctor for help, but he simply exchanged an identical look with her, begging her to tell him what on earth her mother was on about this time. Rose threw him another look in return, saying that she hadn’t the slightest idea, then dared to ask her mum, “A date for what?”

“Getting married, of course,” Jackie said, as if it were obvious. She lifted Hope up into her arms and smiled at her grandchild, before looking between Hope and the Doctor just for a few seconds, seeming to gauge their similarities, just in case there had ever been any doubt. Satisfied that they were perhaps far too alike, she turned away again, and just in time to miss the glare the Doctor gave her. (And what a glare it was - Rose was quite surprised not to see a hole burnt through her mother’s skull.)

Rose stifled a laugh, one which was half mirth and half embarrassment, then managed to compose herself enough to stutter, “Married?” After all, it wasn’t exactly an appropriate time to raise the subject; or perhaps it was.

“Yes, married,” Jackie continued in the face of adversity, daring to turn and give the Doctor a prod in the chest. “I want you to make an honest woman of my daughter.”

The Doctor had to give himself a moment to recover before, pretending to check his watch, he said, “Sorry, is my watch wrong? I thought it was the twenty-first century - not the nineteenth!”

Jackie pulled a face at him. “Oh, it’s like that, is it? Have your bit of fun then go? No commitments?” She scoffed. “You’re just like the rest of them.” She caught Rose’s eye and added, specifically for her, “You see, he’s nothing special - the same as all the rest.”

“Mum,” Rose finally managed to sigh, a little sternly. “Just leave it. We’ve got enough to think about.”

“And we’re not getting married,” the Doctor had to add as Rose slipped past them all, and he quickly followed suit.

Jackie refused to get off her soap box, though, and, placing Hope back on the floor, she continued, “She still doesn’t know your name, does she?”

The Doctor heaved a deep sigh, trying to keep his cool at a time when he really couldn’t afford to lose it. He did his best to simply ignore her whilst Rose opened the front door.

“Haven’t you asked him his name?” Jackie meanwhile called, looking past the Doctor to Rose.

“’Course I have,” Rose replied, glancing outside at the ominous sight in the skies before she ushered the Doctor out onto the colonnade, “He’s the Doctor.”

Jackie cocked her eyebrows. “Oh we’ve heard this before. Doctor what?”

“Just the Doctor,” Rose assured her.

“He must have a proper name.”

“Well he must have a good reason for not telling me.”

“Yeah, just in case his other wives find out.”

The Doctor rolled his eyes and Rose groaned in frustration, giving up on the matter and throwing her hands into the air in defeat.

Jackie wasn’t out of steam yet, though, and she looked again at the Doctor as he brooded quietly in the rear. “Silly girl sometimes, isn’t she?” she said. “She’s had a child with you and she still doesn’t know your bloody name. Hope’s a Tyler as well, you see, since we haven’t a clue what the father’s name is!”

The Doctor, hands in pockets, forced his mouth into a strained smile. “Jackie,” he said, looking straight into her eyes, “as much as I’d love you for a mother-in-law, can we please drop the subject of matrimony and think about the rather large invasion that’s at hand?” He nodded up toward the dark sky.

Jackie sighed, glanced upwards for a brief moment, and folded her arms. “Oh all right. But you can’t avoid it forever.”

“No,” he agreed, “but let’s keep some perspective.”

Hope, a silent spectator of this adult exchange, looked up at her father at this point and asked, “What are you going to do?”

The Doctor gave her a grin. “Daddy’s got a plan,” he said. “It’s a long shot, but it’s all we have.”

Rose felt her brow knot a little at this. The Doctor’s plan was still a complete mystery to her, and she gathered she wouldn’t be finding out about it until he had begun to implement it. She just prayed that it worked.

It was at that exact moment that Hope looked up at her mother and, when their eyes connected, Rose felt a strange, unearthly thrill course through her, feeling as if her mind had been pervaded by her little girl. She shuddered, half wondering if her every thought and fear had been read and absorbed.

Hope stared a little longer, then simply broke away as if nothing had happened, and looked up at her father again. “Don’t be long,” she uttered with more maturity than one would expect.

The Doctor smiled again, but sadly, and was indecisive for a moment as to whether or not he should lower himself to Hope’s level and hug her; he was finding this all hard enough to deal with as it was, and he wasn‘t sure that indulging in further domesticity would help. He ultimately chose not to, and turned quickly to Rose before he changed his mind. “Are you ready?” he asked her.

Rose swallowed and gave him an assertive nod. “As always,” she replied. Her tremulous tone gave away her unease, though; they were both afraid, but that had never stopped them before.

The Doctor turned back to the flat one last time. “You be good for granny, okay?” he called to his daughter.

“Yeah,” Hope replied.

“Good girl,” he smiled, watching as Rose suddenly made a dash back inside to share a farewell hug with her daughter.

“Take care,” he heard her whisper, before she kissed Hope’s forehead and held onto her for as long as she possibly could. She then reluctantly got back to her feet and looked at her mum.

“She’ll be safe with me,” Jackie assured her, reading Rose’s mind. Her tone was suddenly so quiet, though, that one couldn’t help but feel the gravity of the occasion. Rose then gave her mum a quick but heartfelt hug, before she returned to the Doctor’s side, took his hand, and they were off.